Caribbean Surname Index

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I recently discovered my great-great-grandmother Sarah Ann Allan, who lived most of her life in Scotland, was born and christened in Hanover (she and her sister Isabella were christened the same day in 1825). In the Jamaican records the family's last name is spelled "Allen" but when they returned to Scotland they reverted to spelling it "Allan." Sarah's parents, John Allan and Mary Campbell, were born in Scotland around 1790. I haven't found the identity of John's parents yet, but they were supposedly born in Scotland, possibly in Nairnshire or Invernessshire. They appeared to live in Hanover for a short time around the early to mid 1820s (their eldest and younger children were apparently born in Scotland). One or more of my Falconer ancestors, who also lived in the same part of Scotland (Croy & Dalcross, near the border of Invernessshire and Nairnshire) also apparently went to Jamaica but I haven't managed to pick up that trail yet.

My particular area of research is the the early Campbells of Jamaica and I have collected numerous documents. The most recent may interest you regarding the identity of John Allan's wife (nee Campbell). An extract of my draft transcription of the will of Archibald Campbell of Askinish, Hanover parish, who died in 1830 follows:

I give and bequeath to my daughter Mrs Campbell Endeavour [sic] and her three children £100 CurrencyI give and bequeath to daughter Isabella Campbell and her children £100 CurrencyI give and bequeath to my reputed son Iver Campbell (a slave) on Haughton Court Estate one half of my shirts and waistcoats and the whole of the rest of my wearing apparel and two pair of my new shoesI further do give and bequeath to my grandson Archibald Campbell Allan now residing with his father and mother in Scotland £100 Sterling towards completing his education and setting him for business...I do nominate and appoint my worthy friend (and now son-in-law) John Allan Esq of Keith in Scotland, Alexander Campbell and Harford Jones of Lucea merchants and my well beloved son Alexander Campbell of Colour to be executors of this my last will and testament dated Askinish 8th May 1830

The will was proved in Jamaica on 31 July 1830. Campbell was 78 when he wrote it. His wife had long predeceased him and the bequests to his married daughters were only tokens for he had acquired another family, a son and four daughters by Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell, a free woman 'of colour' - hence the reference to his 'beloved son Alexander of colour'. The whole family was recorded in a census of the parish in 1823; my transcription of this can be seen at jamaicanfamilysearch.com (access to the entire site is now free). Archibald Campbell bequested Askinish in three parts, 1/3 to his nephew Trafford (emigrated to Canada in 1828), 1/3 to his son Alexander and 1/3 to his daughters. You may have a complete transcript, with footnotes if you wish (it is still a work in progress as I am trying to identify the witnesses and the antecedents of Archibald himself). This should eventually be posted at jamaicanfamilysearch.com, but it is going through a transitional stage at the moment.Peter

Thank you so much for this valuable information! These are surely my Scottish/Jamaican ancestors. My cousins on this side (most of whom are named Hay) will be fascinated by this information, as I am. This opens up a whole new line of research for us. I just took a quick look at jamaicanfamilysearch.com (found the 1823 census) and I can see it is full of excellent information. I bet I will even find my Jamaican Falconers there. (After my mother's death, I found some notes in which one of my great-aunts had apparently told her that there was a "Jamaica Uncle" on the Falconer side of the family. Technically I suppose that could actually be an Allan, but this note was listed alongside several Falconer names, so I won't be surprised if I find a Falconer ancestor in Jamaica).

Sarah Anne Allan (1823/1824-1886) was the second wife of Parish Schoolmaster James Falconer (1796-1873) of Croy, Invernessshire, Scotland. She bore the last 9 of his 20 children (the youngest of whom was my great-grandmother Mary Jane Falconer Hay, 1865-1926, born when her father was about 68 or 69 years old). Very few of these 20 children had descendants of their own. The Hays lived in Perth, Scotland, but gradually emigrated to Canada between 1912 and 1920 (one son died in WWI, never making it to Canada, but the 8 surviving children all did; my grandfather and his brother eventually emigrated to the US in the 1920s). To my knowledge the Hays are the most prolific line of James Falconer's descendants.

Regarding Trafford Campbell, I found the following old newspaper advertisement on ancestry.com:

St, John, New Brunswick Courier, 15 Oct 1831, p.3:INFORMATION WANTED

IF MR. TRAFFORD CAMPBELL, (a Carpenter by trade,) who left Montego Bay, (Jamaica,) about the middle of July, and arrived here on the 10th August, 1828, in the Brig Peggy, Captain HUNT, be alive, by applying to the Subscriber, he will hear of a Legacy left him in the Parish of Hanover, in the Island of Jamaica. -- If the above mentioned Gentleman is not living in St. John, at present, any information relative to him will be thankfully received by JOHN S. MILLER, Silk Dyer, Brussels Road. St. John, October 15, 1831.

Tim,Glad to hear that the information was helpful and interesting. I had found the notice about Trafford Campbell in The St. John Courier some time ago but have otherwise struggled, so far, to find anything more about Archibald Campbell and why his Jamaican estate was named Askinish. There are clues, however, that link him to the Campbells of Asknish (Scots spelling) in Argyll: the names Iver and Trafford. One Robert Campbell of Asknish wrote a will in 1804 (not sure when he died but it was recorded at the PPC in London in 1823). His son and heir was Humphrey Trafford Campbell 'of Asknish', an advocate in Edinburgh. The name Iver, deriving from McIver, had also been used by Campbells of Asknish previously. Robert Campbell, according to his will, also owned the house/estate of Lochgair. Good hunting, you seem to have many connections to follow up!Peter Dickson(England)

P.S. I'd sure be interested in a transcript of the will when it is finished. Archibald was my 4th great-grandfather. I do have a picture of Sarah Anne Allan Falconer posted on my photobucket.com page, which you should be able to find easily via a Google search. Best regards, Tim

This continues to get more interesting. I just looked up the death registration for my 3rd great-grandmother, Mary Campbell Allan. She died 22 Nov 1875 at the home of her daughter, my great-great-grandmother Sarah Anne Allan Falconer, "Falcon Cottage" in Croy, Inverness-shire, Scotland (which I happen to know was recently demolished). In reporting the death, Sarah listed Mary's mother's name as Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell, deceased. Perhaps Archibald Campbell only had one wife after all?

Re Sarah Falconer/Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell - It's always good when things become clearer the more one delves! Information on the ownership of Askinish, Hanover after the death of Archibald can be found in the Almanacs page at jamaicanfamilyhistory.com and information on the compensation paid for the slaves emancipated there in 1833 can be found at ucl.ac.uk/lbs (University College London) - search for Alexander Campbell, Archibald's son, who made the claim.

I don't have a copy of the will of Humphrey Trafford Campbell but I did pick up the name Jekyll from the will of his father, Robert of Asknish. I believe this Jekyll was an ancestor of Walter Jekyll, an accomplished musician, who left Cambridge university to settle at Lucea in Hanover. He was well know for his collection of traditional Jamaican song. Peter

I'm so glad you contacted me. This is truly interesting, not only to me, but also to my Hay cousins in Canada who also descend from Archibald. I'm eager to spend more time perusing the Jamaican Family Search site much more carefully and methodically (I've been dealing with a burst cold water pipe in the ceiling of my house since shortly before you contacted me; thankfully absolutely nothing was damaged beyond some walls, baseboards and carpets). Do you know anything more about Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell's parents?

I suppose one next logical step for me is to get one of those DNA tests. I understand they've recently made a lot of progress in tracing "other" markers (beyond the all-male line that was traditionally tested). If Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell is indeed my 4th great-grandmother, then I suppose there might be some trace of African "markers" in my DNA.

Best of luck tracing the ancestors of Archibald. I will surely benefit from any success you may have, because you're following my direct ancestors.

Many thanks, Tim

P.S. I'll eventually transcribe John Allan's will, after I catch up from being away from the office dealing with plumbing problems last week...

Sorry to hear about the plumbing problem; hope all will be sorted soon. Have not yet discovered anything about Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell's parents. As her age in 1823 was stated as 50, I guess that a baptism record may appear in the Anglican parish register for Hanover at any time after 1770. I usually inspect the actual images of the books on the LDS site as I find their search engine laborious. If I find anything, I'll let you know. There must be a link to the Malcolm brothers Donald and George or to their cousin Robert Monkcton Malcolm.Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell is also noted in slave compensation records as owning two slaves in her own right.Peter

Jamaican Christening records available on familysearch.org appear to indicate that our Campbells got baptized en masse:- Mary, Lillie, Jane, Ann, Isabella and Iver Campbell were all Christened in Hanover on 10 Dec 1803, along with their mother Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell and 2 or 3 other Campbells: Amelia, Catharine, Nancy (probably same as Ann). I suppose that could mean that the "Mrs. Campbell Endeavour" mentioned in the will could be Amelia or Catharine as a married adult?- Alexander Campbell and Sarah Campbell were both Christened in Hanover on 30 Sep 1809; in these two records, the mother's name was specifically given as Elizabeth Malcolm Campbell. I therefore suppose "Sarah" must have been Margaret. (That's very easy for me to believe; to this day I'm still not 100% sure if my great-grandmother was Sarah Margaret Walker or Margaret Sarah Walker!).

I suppose other explanations are still possible, but this all sounds like one big happy family to me (except for Iver, whom I suppose may have had a different mother)... a little lax in their church attendance, though!

Sorry for sending multiple replies per day... but I believe I figured out the reference to "my daughter, Mrs. Campbell, Endeavour."Marriage records on familysearch.org include Amelia Campbell marrying Neil Campbell in 1816 if I recall correctly.So I would speculate (based on the Christening records I mentioned in my previous post) that Amelia was one of Archibald and Elizabeth's older daughters (Christened with the big group in 1803, but most likely born in the 1790s), that she married a man whose surname happened to the same as her own, and they subsequently lived in the Endeavour District of Jamaica.

I'll be out late tonight and tomorrow night so I may not be able to investigate further until the weekend. I'll try to at least sneak a look at jamaicanfamilysearch.com to see if I can find Neil (also spelled Neill) and Amelia in the 1823 census.